Online Photo Manipulation Tools

Photoshop Express Online

Photoshop Express Online is a good alternative for minor changes to a photo. Maybe if something needs to be brightened up a little bit, or a little editing. While it is nothing compared to the actual Photoshop program, it is a helpful tool to use. It includes a few of the same features that is also included in a Photoshop license. Such as the burn and dodge tool. The photo below on the left is the original photo that I found on Google. I used the burn tool to bring out the colors on the same photo to the right. As you can see the the grass sky is a brighter blue, and there is more detail in the leaves. If you only need a photo editing tool to make some minor changes, this is a great tool that is free, and you don't have to download anything. There is also no registration required.

PicMonkey

PicMonkey has some pretty cool features that are seasonal. This is the month of October, and there are all kinds of spooky things going on. PicMonkey allows you to make yourself into a zombie, vampire, demon and numerous other themes related to Halloween. As you can see to the right, I used PicMonkey to turn Bruce Wayne into a zombie. Among many other features that are unrelated to the time of year. This include things such as a blemish remover and teeth whitener. You can also add eye make up such as eye liner and eye shadow. There is even a weight loss tool. What more can you ask for?

There is a downfall to PicMonkey, all of its features are not free. Many of the really cool effects you must pay for. For a premium package it is either $4.99 a month or $33.00 for a year. Is it worth it?  I probably wouldn't by a subscription, but it does have some handy features to play with.

BeFunky

BeFunky is a cool website. To me it pretty much seemed like photo editing for dummies. There are many things that you can do. I choose to use the sample photo they offered it is to the left. It put me in mind of an old diner. I decided to give it a vintage look to make it look like an old photo. The second option in the photo edit that looks like a wand gives you an abundance of effects the choose from. I choose one from "Old Photo." I then choose a frame from the instant menu. Lastly I choose a texture, which is the last choose on the task bar, to make it look scratched up. and below was my results. I am impressed with what all was offered without evening have to sign up for an account.

Image Hosting: 4 Images, 4 Sites

Who can't use somewhere to stash all of their images? If you take a lot of photos than image hosting can be idea for you. Photobucket, Flickr, Drop Box, and ImageShack are all free image hosting sites. I want to talk about how each of them are useful and then not so much useful in their own ways.

Photobucket

For the life of me I can not remember why I quit using Photobucket. Only a few years ago I used this site more than any other one. It is a great tool. Since I have been back on it, it seems like a lot has changed. Still yet is is somewhat handy. I like how you can click on the photo and everything you need is right there. If you want to share it in an email all you have to do is click it, and it automatically copies a link for you to the photo. What is really useful is that it also provides you with the html code you need to post on Blogger or somewhere else similar. Which is what I did with the image on the left.

                   Flickr

I have never used Flickr before today, but there is one thing that really annoys me about it. How photos can be shared. It is easy, but it isn't really all that easy to find. There is a "share" button where you can share to Facebook, email, and a few other social networking websites. You can also click that symbol to get the HTML or the link to the photo. I grabbed the HTML and put it below

Drop Box

Dropbox's user interface kind of sucks. It is difficult to figure out how to enable public preview. It would most definitely be my last choice out of all of the above. Not to mention only having 2GB of storage isn't cool either. It is currently hosting that pie I made a few months ago. While it looked good, it wasn't by any means.

               ImageShack

ImageShack was never my first choice back in the day when I was still using Photobucket. As Photobucket, I haven't visited ImageShack in a long time so maybe there is some positive changes. The user interface looks nearly identical to what I saw several years ago. It is kind of disappointing that it has changed very little. It seems that Photobucket has improved in great strides in comparison with ImageShack. Sharing pictures is really easy which does make it more convenient than the other choices. You just upload it and it takes you directly to the HTML and links.